Letter+of+Introduction+(Chillemi)

Letter of Introduction
Dear Reader,

Throughout this semester, I have spent time reflecting on my own learning experiences and childhood to help understand what it means to teach and understand adolescent literacy. I needed to learn about my own experiences before I can learn about how to teach and explain to others. Reflecting is not only important as a student but as a teacher. We must reflect on the effectiveness of our lessons, if our students are learning, and what we can do to improve our classroom. I feel that this course allows for an introduction to reflection on a level that will help us to reflect later on when we are in our own classrooms.

English was always my favorite class throughout my primary education but when I first went to college, I refused to be an English major. I had convinced myself that if I were to study English in college, it would result in me hating to read. So I went the complete opposite route and opted to be a pre-medical student and study Biology. But this did not last very long. The only classes I thoroughly enjoyed were the English classes I had taken as electives during the first year and a half at Fordham University College of Rose Hill. I gave in and formally changed my major to English by the end of my sophomore year. Despite my concern, majoring in English only enhanced my love for reading. The only downside of being an English major was that my eyesight continually weakened and now I cannot read anything without glasses or contacts.

The profession of teaching had been an option hidden in the back of my mind and did not come out until I was applying for Graduate school. In high school, I had the opportunity to teach swimming lessons on the weekends to young children. Even though the days were very long and I was usually freezing, I loved breaking down the strokes and creating phrases that would help the children understand the different parts of a stroke. For example, the arm strokes of breaststroke can be difficult to explain to a child and showing is not enough. I learned that by telling the students to make a “pizza pie,” cut it in half, and serve it to your friends, as well as visually demonstrating, allowed the students to grasp the concept of the stroke and there was less confusion. This was my first taste of teaching and helped me to learn that everyone understands differently and that one needs to use different analogies or explanations depending on the student.

I found this course to be extremely valuable. I came to this class with the mentality of a correctionist. But I feel that this is because I approach my own work as a correctionist. I write all over my drafts, crossing out sentences, and changing the wording. This mentality worked for me because I was used to teachers writing all over papers and asking questions and changing grammar. And I was the type of student who would go back over all the corrections and figure out why the teacher placed them there. I realized that I am not like all students. Most students will not read over the teacher’s comments and learn why they have mistakes. They will simply throw the paper out or shove it in their backpacks and never see it again. In realizing that all students are different, I have learned to hold back my mentality of a correctionist. When grading, I take mental notes of the students’ grammatical errors but I only correct what my cooperating teacher and I have taught the class.

With grading comes the discussion of how to teach grammar in the classroom. When I first came into this classroom, I viewed grammar as a necessity and that traditional grammar should be taught. But I also believed that it should be integrated into the course through literary work—for the students to apply what they learned or know about grammar and language to the every day and other lessons. If my view has changed the most on anything it would have to be grammar instruction. My initial opinion on grammar instruction is boring; students would be bored, I would be bored. No one would learn or want to learn, and then this knowledge of grammar would not transfer to the students’ writing. After this semester, I believe that grammar should be taught in the context of students’ writing. Students will not learn through doing exercises on a worksheet. They need to see the grammar mistakes in their own writing and to learn the rules through their own writing.

I had the opportunity to create a lesson on nouns for my tenth grade ELA class. I was a little nervous and not sure how the lesson would go since nouns would be perceived as a childish lesson for my tenth graders. I decided to take what I learned this semester and try to apply to this lesson. I started the lesson by having the students write a paragraph about what they wanted for Christmas. They were then to circle every word they thought was a noun. We created a list of the nouns the students circled and then categorized them. We worked backwards to formulate the definition of a noun, proper noun, and common noun. After the students felt they understood the concepts, I decided to have a fun activity. The students created different teams and had to name every noun they saw in the classroom. It was a fun activity and all of the students were engaged. I felt that the students really understood the concept of a noun, and prefer this approach to a worksheet and lecture.

The noun lesson is just one of many situations in which I was able to use what I learned this semester and apply it to my teaching. I feel that I am better prepared to be an English teacher after this course. I have learned different ways to approach grammar, learned how to use home language in the classroom, and learned the effects and stereotypes of language. One important concept that I feel is a necessity to implement in all classrooms is to teach students tolerance and to understand the power of language. Embracing language and empowering students to use their language can lead to eliminating prejudice and stereotypes against certain languages and dialects.

Before you read my reflective portfolio, I feel that it is important to explain how it is organized. I have opted not to arrange the documents based on the three essential questions of this course. I feel that everything we have read or done this semester relates to all three questions and I found it difficult to separate them into three distinct categories. The information obtained this semester has shaped my knowledge and meditations for the three questions. It is for this purpose that I have chosen to create a table of contents in which the documents are available to all three essential questions and not limited to just one.

Warm Regards Tara Chillemi